Childhood Obesity in America By: Katy Calleja 3 rd hour

Background Knowledge A child is considered obese according to if they have a “ BMI at or above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex”. A child is overweight according to when the child has a BMI at or above the 85th percentile and lower than the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex. In most cases, obesity in children is cause by overeating and under-exercising. However other cause include, lack of sleep, genetics, the child’s environment, psychological factors, and medical conditions. 1 out of 3 kids considered overweight or obese.

Obesity is increasing in the U.S.Given More than 2/3’s of U.S. adults are I found this on frac.org (Food Research Obese. and Action Center) 1/3 of 2-5 year olds and 1/3 of school age children are obese in the U.S. Obesity in children can lead to low- I found this on frac.org self esteem, poor academic performance, social discrimination, eating disorders, heart disease, depression, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Obese students, especially girls, tend I found this in “Does Obesity Affect to have lower test scores than School Performance?” students who do not suffer from on CNN.com obesity. Also, obese students are less likely to go to college.

Proof Continued… College graduates between the agesI found this on pewsocialtrends.org who work full time make $17,000 more than those who graduated with a high school diploma

Conditional : If we do not do anything about obesity, then the obese youth will be more likely to end up with low paying jobs. Inverse : If we do something about obesity, then the obese youth will be less likely to have low paying jobs. Converse : If the obese youth are more likely to have low paying jobs, then we did not do anything about obesity. Contrapositive : If the youth are not obese and are not likely to have low paying jobs, then we did something about obesity.

Solutions Parents could set a good example for their children. Parents can teach their children to eat in moderation Children can try to avoid food that are high in sodium and fatty foods. Parents can schedule annual visits for their children to see a doctor. Parents can plan healthy meals using the food pyramid guide. Families can eat meals together. Parents can focus on being healthy and not on a certain weight.

Sources “Does Obesity Affect School Performance?” performance/ performance/ going-to-college/ going-to-college/ obesity/basics/prevention/con obesity/basics/prevention/con m m